Retired Col. Dick Cole, now 90 years old, was one of 80 men, led by then Lt. Col. James Doolittle, who volunteered to bomb mainland Japan on April 18, 1942. Colonels Cole and Doolittle were the pilots of the first of 16 B-25 Mitchell medium bombers that launched from the USS Hornet, floating approximately 500 miles from Japan's coast. The mission was the first American strike on the Japanese mainland. Only 16 of the original 80 men remain alive today. /Senior Airman Brian Ferguson

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Keywords: air, airforce, conflict, force, military, usa, war